He is now exploring the possibility of tapping mobile phone users to contribute towards another such all-India programme on an all-India basis. "There are 900 million cellphone users in the country who, on an average, spend Rs 150 per month for usage. If each subscriber agrees to pay even Rs 20 per month, it will be a big-ticket contribution," he pointed out.

Explaining how the scheme could be viable, he said with 100 subscribers, 93% will not avail the scheme as the need may not arise. The 7% will benefit, though. Shetty has already made a presentation to health and family welfare minister UT Khader and the scheme will have to be implemented in conjunction with the service providers.

Health department officials, however, do not seem enthused about this. Though they felt the idea is good, according to them, the government's focus is on 'assurances' rather than 'insurance.' The government is looking at empanelling hospitals at pre-negotiated rates for providing healthcare through cashless transactions. As many as 465 procedures are provided in empanelled hospitals through cashless transactions under three schemes launched by the government — Vajpayee Arogyashree (BPL families), Rajiv Arogya Bhagya (APL families) and Jyothi Sanjeevini (Karnataka government employees), officials said.

Explaining why insurance doesn't work, the officials said hospitals were charging Rs 7,000 for treating dengue patients when the cost should be Rs 1,200 to Rs 2,000 even at an optimal profit. "The government is prepared to pay the difference, but corporate hospitals continue to charge exorbitant amounts," they added.

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A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V K Rao passed the order while acting on a PIL filed by Delhi-based dermatologist Zaheer Ahmed who complained that lakhs of medicines were being sold on the internet every day without much regulation, posing a huge risk to patients and doctors alike.